Longest time with green beer taste?

I all,

I'm not asking this from being worried standpoint since I have definitely become a believer in time heals all beers (well most beers...I don't think any amount of time will ever help a Budweiser :cross, but since I'm still pretty new to brewing I'm a bit curious as to what the longest you guys have had a batch keep that college pilsner keg that was pump tapped 3 days ago taste?

Any good references you can give should help out with keeping me from regularly raiding my batches to check on what ends up being only moderate improvement

It can really depend on the beer - bigger and/or darker beers often take a little longer to mellow, but most of the stuff I've made so far is great within 7-8 weeks from brew day. My first really dark strong one is conditioning now and I expect it to take a little longer to come into it's own but we'll see.

I thought this was a St. Patrick's Day post. Pour me another!

My beers never get past the green stage no matter how long I age them. I love brewing and the process, but I make terrible tasting beer. They always have the off flavor home brew thing going on.

I'm not going to give up however. Ill brew till the day I die to get a good tasting home brew.

My first batch, a red ale, as well as my second batch, a bitter, both have the "green beer" taste. The first one has been bottled since Christmas day (a little over a month), and the bitter has been there for about 3 weeks.

Both are still green.

It's interesting... the green flavour in the red seems to be starting to "meld" into the beer.. It's not quite as offensive as it was before (maybe thats because I've finished more than half the batch in "taste tests" and have started to lose my idea of what it was before?).

The green flavour in the bitter is also mellowing, but definitely gone yet.

I bottled a blonde 2 days after I bottled the bitter, and it was astoundingly tasty at 1 week. It was the first beer that I gave to other people (beer drinkers who prefer "tasty" beers), and got a ton of compliments on it.

So... Since my first beer is still green and (if I finish it all) may stay that way, I can't really comment other than saying that it seems to fade (at least slightly) over time.

can someone quickly explain what green beer tastes like?

ACo said:

can someone quickly explain what green beer tastes like?

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To ME green beer tastes like beer with a pungent alcohol aftertaste, almost a bite to it. Conditioning the beer will let the flavors do the happy dance with one another and give you some great beer!

I did a High Gravity Bock that registers 9.5% ABV.

I left it in Primary for 3 weeks and it has been in secondary for 5 weeks. I steal a sample out once a week. Not much difference from week to week. Very heavy alcohol presence with a lot of Matliness.

About the only change I have noticed, is that the maltiness has started to get stronger. I want the burn the back of me froat alcohol presence to mellow. I am starting to wonder if it ever will.

impatient said:

I did a High Gravity Bock that registers 9.5% ABV.

I left it in Primary for 3 weeks and it has been in secondary for 5 weeks. I steal a sample out once a week. Not much difference from week to week. Very heavy alcohol presence with a lot of Matliness.

About the only change I have noticed, is that the maltiness has started to get stronger. I want the burn the back of me froat alcohol presence to mellow. I am starting to wonder if it ever will.

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Beer is not supposed to taste good out of the fermenter. You have not even begun to age the beer yet. This does not happen until it has been in bottle or keg and carbonated for a period of time. In your case, a long period of time. It will bulk age in the fermenter but you need to get that carbonation working in your favor. Even if you do bulk age that hot alcohol taste out, the mini ferment that occurs with bottle conditioning will kick it off again.

As far as green tastes are concerned, the OP described it quite well actually. In bigger beers there can also be hot alcohol flavors. Personally I hate all green beer flavors and I usually wait a long time before trying a batch.

To answer the original questions, I wait three weeks in bottle before I even try one. Then I see where I stand. On most I find I need a week or two longer.

I am just starting to keg with my next batch so I don't know how this same process works because you can get the beer carbonated much much sooner What I don't know is if this carbonation equals maturation.

dontman said:

Beer is not supposed to taste good out of the fermenter. You have not even begun to age the beer yet. This does not happen until it has been in bottle or keg and carbonated for a period of time. In your case, a long period of time. It will bulk age in the fermenter but you need to get that carbonation working in your favor. Even if you do bulk age that hot alcohol taste out, the mini ferment that occurs with bottle conditioning will kick it off again.

As far as green tastes are concerned, the OP described it quite well actually. In bigger beers there can also be hot alcohol flavors. Personally I hate all green beer flavors and I usually wait a long time before trying a batch.

To answer the original questions, I wait three weeks in bottle before I even try one. Then I see where I stand. On most I find I need a week or two longer.

I am just starting to keg with my next batch so I don't know how this same process works because you can get the beer carbonated much much sooner What I don't know is if this carbonation equals maturation.

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I guess i have hijacked this post, oh well.

I am just doing as instructed by other around here. But, I am open for suggestion. I have bottles. Should I bottle it and let it sit?

What temp? How much dextrose for the high alcohol? How long to try?

It started at 1.092 and is down to 1.019. Is this low enough? Notty if you ask.

ACo said:

can someone quickly explain what green beer tastes like?

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You can taste every individual ingredient in the beer. The flavors haven't melded yet into something special yet. That's what I notice.

This might be specific to porters since that's usually where I notice it, but the green beer taste to me is more like an astringent aftertaste that kind of dries your mouth out.

I like to give my dark beers at least two months from the brew day before I even crack one, it's hard at first I know but they keep getting tastier the longer you wait...

Although hefes I just ferment ten days, bottle, and start drinking them a week later and they taste fine to me.

Jolly McStanson said:

My beers never get past the green stage no matter how long I age them. I love brewing and the process, but I make terrible tasting beer. They always have the off flavor home brew thing going on.

I'm not going to give up however. Ill brew till the day I die to get a good tasting home brew.

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Really? This sooooo reminds me of my situation.

I've made a number of batches, none of them particularly "good", but I'm assuming that my problem is just that I'm not waiting long enough and/or just dumping somewhat random amounts of stuff in the wort hopping for the best.

My last brew day was this past Saturday and followed a recipe very closely, did a partial grain, and will wait several weeks. Hoping for the best... and may just give up if I fail once again since it's cheaper to buy beer.

zippyslug31 said:

may just give up if I fail once again since it's cheaper to buy beer.

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huh? not in my experience ... even natty lite costs more (aside from my time)

I waited 9 months for a porter. I have an alt that has been sitting 6 months and is just starting to become drinkable.

I just floated a keg this weekend that got notably better until the very end. This was a period of about 7 weeks from kegging. I am always surprised at how much a beer changes over the life of a batch.